API Requests Limits

The rate limit of the API is primarily considered on a per-IP basis. We allow making 40 requests per one-minute window per IP. When an application exceeds the rate limit for our API, we return an HTTP 429 “Too Many Requests” response code. If your application gets rate-limited, it will be unblocked within a minute since the last request that got rate-limited.

To avoid this situation, please use caching in your application. Store API responses in your application if you expect a lot of use. For example, don’t try to call the Upwork API on every page load. Instead, call the API infrequently, and load the response into a local cache. When users hit your website, load the cached version of the results.

Note that if your application exceeds the 40,000 requests per day limit, your API key may be disabled. We will typically contact you first, but you should be ready to cooperate ASAP.

I’m getting error 429 “Too Many Requests”. What does it mean?

This error message is returned when an application exceeds the rate limit for our API. Note that the rate limit of the API is primarily considered on a per-IP basis. We allow making 40 requests per one-minute window per IP.